Manville High School’s 2025 Reality Fair, for juniors only, took place this Wednesday, April 9th; the fair started at 9 am during 2nd and 3rd periods. During the fair, students used their mock budget, that was made during health class on February 16, to navigate different stations that simulated real life expenses to get an idea of how life finances and budgeting can work with a full-time job. If you never filled out the survey or were unsure about a career, you were given a basic one based on a typical bachelor’s degree. To start your mock budget for your career, you will have to pick a career you’re interested in; once you get the career, you will find the salary and education information. Once everything is complete and submitted, you would make an account on the SCOIR app that you would use your senior year to track your college applications. 

The point of a high school reality fair is to provide students with an interactive, hands-on experience simulating adult financial life, helping them understand budgeting, career choices, and making informed financial decisions. Reality fairs also allow students to experience some of the financial challenges they may face after graduation, such as choosing a career, setting a budget, and paying for basic expenses. Students are often assigned a fictitious career and a starting salary based on their chosen career path and GPA, allowing them to see how their choices translate into income. Students then use their assigned income to pay for housing, transportation, food, and other essential expenses, learning to balance their budget and make financial choices.

The fair format encourages active participation and learning through simulations, rather than just lectures or worksheets with different faculty members to guide you through the process. This Reality Fair can be a single event or combined with a financial education program. In the end, if a student goes through all of their choices and goes over budget, they are able to go back and make different choices, but there is a fee for returns at many of the stations. In addition, the Credit Union, which is a not-for-profit financial cooperative owned and operated by its members, who share a common bond like a job, community, or association is always there to provide guidance in real life, so it’ll be no different at the fair.